Tiivistelmä

This thesis is a research about tourists’ view on shopping opportunities in Finland. It aims to find out what tourists from different countries buy or expect to buy in Finland, if the supply corresponds the demand and what are the shopping trends. The thesis is commissioned by Visit Porvoo.

The theory part of the thesis divides into Finland as a tourism destination and shopping tour-ism theory. In the Finland section, the destination is analysed by different approaches and shopping opportunities are also discussed. The shopping tourism part consists of theories and its importance from different aspects is explained.

The empirical part begins with describing qualitative and quantitative methods which are used in this research. It also includes the designing process of the questionnaire and the collection of data. Validity and reliability are explained and discussed from the point of this research.

The research was conducted in two cities by interviewing tourists face-to-face on the streets. The questionnaire received 110 responses, approximately half gathered in Helsinki and other half in Porvoo. Data collection was started in spring 2015 and finalized in the beginning of the year 2016.

Finally, the results, conclusions and suggestions for development are presented in detail. The results were analyzed carefully by using Webropol online survey tool. Conclusions and sug-gestions for development are made based on the findings.

Most valuable findings of the research were that shopping experience in Finland is mostly positive and selection of high-class design is good. Mostly tourists like to buy food and bev-erage, clothing, souvenirs and design products but the price level seems to be too expensive. In general the supply corresponds the demand, however, there are minor points that could be improved.